Sewing machine for forming concealed stitches



May 5, 1925.

J. J. HEAP SEWING MACHINE FOR FORMING CONCEALED STITCHES Filed Sept.124,1919 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 5, 1925.

Filed Sept. 24, 1919 4 Sheets- Sheet 2 May 5, 1925.

J. ,1. HEAP SEWING MACHINE FORFORMING CONCEALED STITCHI SS Filed Sept. 21, 19l9- 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 May 5, 1925. 1,536,385

J. J. HEAP SEWING MACHINE FOR FORMING CONCEALED STITCHES 4 Sheets-Sheet4 Filerfsept. 24, 1919 Patented May 5, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,536,385 PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE J. HEAP, OF NEW YORK, .N'. Y., ASSIG-NOLB TO UNION SPECIAL COM.-

PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION ILLINOIS.

SEWING MACHINE FOR FORMING CONCEALED STITCHES.

Application filed September 24, 1919. Serial No. 325,827.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Jesse J. HEAP, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, in the county of New York, State of New York,have invented certain .new and useful Improvements in Sewing Machinesfor Forming Concealed Stitches, of which the following is'adescription,'reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to thefigures of reference marked thereon.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in sewing machines,and more particularly to a sewing machine for forming concealedstitchesthat is, a line of stitches wherein the needle thread is locatedbeneath a portion of the strip as viewed from the right or face sidethereof, so that'said portion conceals the stitches from view.

.An object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above typewhich is especially adapted for stitching short lengths of fabric, forforming belt loops, coat hanger loops, or the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide amachine of the abovetype, with a feeding mechanism operating to feed the strip toward thefront of the machine or toward the operator, and also means fordirecting the strip to the needles, so that the part which'is to bepenetrated by the needles only crosses the oath of the needles.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in'part behereinafter more fully disclosed.

' In the drawings which show by Way of illustration one embodiment ofthe invention- Figure 1 is afront view of a portion of the machineembodying my improvements Figure 2 is an end view of the same withparts-" brjoken away to show the feeding mechanism beneath the worksupport;

Figure 3 is a plan View of the work support with the cover plate drawnback to expose to view the looper;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the resser foot and theneedles-showing in dotted lines the fabric strip as it is guided to andfrom the needles;

Figure 5 is a sectional view longitudinally-through the presser foot;

Figure .6 -is a perspective view showing more or less diagrammaticallythe needles strip to the needles,

and strip and the path of movement of the strip through the machine;

Figure 7 is a sectional view showing more or less diagrammatically thestrip, the needle and the feed, with the needle penetrating the inturnededge of the strip;

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of the strip after it has been stitchedto form the belt loop or the coat hanger loop;

Figure 9 is a bottom plan view of the presser foot;

Figure 10 is a top presser foot with the strip attached thereto.

In the Higgins Patent No. 1,195,814, August 22, 1916, there is shown anddescribed a machine for forming concealed guide for the fabricstitching, wherein the needles which secure the, strip to a body fabricass through the inturned edges respective Y of the strip only, thuslaying the needle threads between the inturned edges and the bodyportion of the strip being stitched so that said threads are concealedfrom the right or face side of the strip. In said patent the plan viewof the strip is led to the needles from a point in rear ofv the needlesand is then fed toward the rear of the machine. This makes a veryinconvenient way of directing the lengths of fabric are used.

My present invention is directed, to an improvement upon the machineshown in the said providing of a feed dog which is so constructed andtimed as to feed the strip which is being stitched toward the front sideof the machine-that is, toward the operator, and in the providing of aguide for the strip which is so disposed that the strip may be led totheneedles from a point in front of the needle bar; said stri beinfolded about the path of the 'needlbs an then deflected as it passesbeneath the presser foot, so as to cause the inturned edges of the stripto be penetrated by the needles. b

Referring more in detail to the drawin s, I have shown the invention asembodied in a sewing machine having a work support 1 carried by the bedplate of the machine, which is indicated at 2. Also, mounted on this bedplate is an overhanging arm 3, in which a needle bar 4 is mounted toreciprocate. Said needle bar, as herein shown, is

especially when short."

patent and resides broadly in the too provided with two needles 5 and 6.The

needle bar is reciprocated by a needle lever 7, which is connected by alink 8 to a lug 9 fixed to the needle bar. The material is fed along thework support by means of a feed dog 10. Said feed dog 10 is carried bythe bridging supporting member 11- 11, which are formed as a part of theshank 12 of the feed dog. Said shank 12 of the feeddog is secured to afeed bar 13. This feed bar is pivoted at 14 to a feed rocker which ismoved back and forth by an arm connected in the usual way to acrank onthe forward end of the main shaft. The feed bar is raised and lowered byan eccentric 16 mounted on the main shaft 18. As the feed rockeroscillates the feed dog is moved back and forth. The lifting eccentricfor the feed bar is timed so as to raise the feed dog into engagementwith the material on its stroke toward the forward side of themachinethat is, toward the operator and the teeth of the feed dog arepointed in a direction toward the operator, so that the fabric isgripped by the feed dog and moved a stitch ength in a direction towardthe front of the machinethat-.is, toward the operator who sits atthefront of the machine.

The material is held on the work support by means of a presser foot 19carried by a gresser bar 20, of the usual construction.

aid presser foot is formed with an opening 21 therein. Directl 1 abovethis opening in the presser foot an carried by the presser foot is astrip guide 22. Said strip guide is formed with a shank'23 which issecured to the presser foot by means of screws 24-24. The strip guide 22encircles the path of the needles and is provided at the rear with aprojecting rib 25 which is substantially T- shape in cross section. Thestrip of fabric being stitched is indicated at S in the drawings. Saidstrip of fabric is led to the needles in rear of a uiding wire 26 andthence into the strip guide 22. The edges of the strip S, which areinturned, are indicated at s and 8. Said edges are carried around therespective needles 5 and 6 to a point in rear thereof and are guided anddirected by the T-shaped rib 23. The body portion of the strip is infront of the needles, as clearly shown in the drawings. Said guide ismore or less tapered so as to receive the strip and i'nturn the edges,in the manner shown in the drawings. .As above noted, the inturned edgesof the strip are in rear of the needles. As the strip reaches the lowersurface of the presser foot, it is directed forwardly into the recess27, said recess being of substantially the width of the finished beltloop or coat han er loop which is being formed. The feed 0g operatesupon the strip under the forward portion 23 of the presser foot andfeeds the strip, as stated above, toward the front side of the machine.The turned in portions .9 and s. of the strip, as the strip is ledtoward the front of the machine, will be caused to cross the respectivepaths of the needles 5 and 6, and the needles will, therefore, penetratethese inturned edges. The body portion of the strip, however, passesdown in front of the needles and does not cross the path of the needles,and, therefore, will not be penetrated by said needles. The needlethreads are indicated at n and n in the drawings.

Said needle threads will be deposited on the inner faces of the inturnedportions .9 and s, respectively. and beneath the body portion of thestrip S, so that said body portion of the strip conceals these needlethreads. The loops formed in the needle threads will be carried by theneedles through the respective inturned edges.

Co-operating with the needles beneath the work support is a threadedlooper 28, which is of the usual character. Said looper cnters bothneedle thread loops and deposits a looper thread loop, indicated at Z,in said needle loops. The looper thread Z joining the needle loops,covers the edges of the inturned portions 8 and s, and thus the striphas its edges inturned and stitched together, so that the strip will beheld in folded condition and at the same time the stitches for joiningthese edges entirely concealed from the front face of the strip. Such astrip, as above noted, is particularly useful for forming belt loops,coat hanger loops and the like. The looper 28, of course, enters theneedle loops on th front side of the needles and moves to the rear ofthe needles for its needle avoiding movement.

The throat plate 29 of the sewing machine is formed with needle openings30-.-30 for the needles, and a stitch tongue 31 projects forwardly fromthese needle openings, so that the looper thread loops will be shed fromthe stitch tongue by the feed of the strip toward the front of themachine.

From the above, it will be apparent that very short lengths of fabricmay be readily directed in rear of the wire 26 and into the strip guide22. These short lengths of fabric will have their edges inturned and thefabric strip will be fed toward the front of the machine, so that theneedles forming the concealed stitches will unite the inturned edges ofthe strip. This enables the belt loops or coat hanger loops to be madefrom scrap material which is cut into short lengths and one afteranother fed to the machine.

Itis obvious that from certain aspects of the invention the strip may befolded and fed toward the front of the machine, as de scribed, andstitched to a body fabric, but

the invention is particularly adapted to the forming of belt loops andcoat hanger loops and the like, wherein the strip itself after beingstitched forms the completed article.

While I have shown the invention as applied to a machine havinv twoneedles, it is also obvious that a single needle may be used, whichis'vibrated' back and forth, or

the edges may be slightly overlapped and a single needle used whichpenetrates both edges. It will be understood, therefore, that theinvention is not directed to any specific form of stitching mechanism orany specific form of guiding means, or any specific form of feedingmechanism, but rather to a combination of elements whereby the functionstated may be accomplished.

' Having thus described my invention. what I claim as new and desiredto. secure by Letters Patent, is:

The combination of a work support, stitch forming mechanism including aplurality of needles, and devices cooperating therewith for formingconnected lines of stitching, a feeding mechanism including a feed dogdisposed and operated so as to feed the material being stitched towardthe front of the machine,-a presser foot cooperating with the feedingmechanism, and guiding means carried by the presser foot and adapted toreceive short strips of fabric inserted in the guiding means in front ofthe needles, for

'folding re arwardly the side edge portions of said strip and fordirecting said side edge portions' of the strip to the rear of theneedles whereby the strip is fed forwardly from underneath the presserfoot, and the stitch forming mechanism operates to connect the sideportions by connected lines of stitching.

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signa ture, in the presence of twowitnesses.

JESSE .l'. HEMP. Witnesses: OBED J. OLSEN, Amman J. WAREING.

